


if i lay here

by TheQueenInTheNorth



Series: lou's mcu kink bingo [13]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, F/M, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2020-01-07 13:17:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18411431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheQueenInTheNorth/pseuds/TheQueenInTheNorth
Summary: five times kasius and sinara share a bed out of necessity, and one time because they want to.





	if i lay here

**Author's Note:**

> for the square bedsharing

The battle was as good as lost, and they all knew it. All there was to do now was to wait for the command to drink the Odium. Sinara thought it would likely come the next morning, the commanders still hoping the medics would get as many soldiers as possible into a state where the Odium would still do its job.

That meant that beds had been given only to those who direly needed them, which left Sinara leaning against a wall with nowhere else to stay.

“Are you alright?”

The voice jerked her out of her half-doze; she turned to find Kasius right next to her, hand hovering as if about to touch her arm.

“Of course, Your Highness,”she gave back quickly, standing at attention.

They had spoken a few times when she’d been guarding him, or rather he had spoken at her while she had given the occasional opinion, but she didn’t know why he might be seeking her out.

Perhaps he’d caught her scoffing when his generals had broached the subject of Odium; he likely had guessed she didn’t think much of dying on behalf of the Empire. She’d be more concerned by that if there was any chance of any of them getting out of here alive.

“It’s Sinara, isn’t it?”he asked, barely waiting for her to nod before he continued.“Well, Sinara, I mean no offense but you don’t look alright. You look about ready to keel over.”

Sinara gave a slight shrug with one shoulder, head tilted to the side. She couldn’t even begin to guess what response he expected from her.

“You should get some rest,”Kasius said earnestly.“You will need it for tomorrow.”

The Odium would give her all the energy she’d need but she didn’t point that out. Instead, she settled for,“There’s no free beds.”

Not after most of their base had been firebombed.

“You could come sleep in my room,”he said. Somehow, it did not sound suggestive.

She laughed. He didn’t.

Her cheeks flushed almost as brightly as his when she realised he hadn’t been joking.“I – okay, thanks.”

The words were out before she could fully examine just what it was he was offering her, and the way down the hall was too short to make much sense of anything.

That lack of forethought hit her hard when she entered his chambers to find it quite sparse, a desk chair the only thing available to rest on besides his own bed.

Sinara froze two steps into the room, uncertain what she should do. She could easily just turn and leave but she didn’t want to return to the racket of the common areas. If she had to die the next day, she’d rather at least get a good night’s sleep first.

She also wasn’t exactly opposed to the expectations the single bed implied. It was still quite presumptuous of the prince to assume. He was happily oblivious to her scowling at the back of his head as she tried to decide what to do.

“The shower’s through there,”he said, indicating a door opposite his desk and then pulling open the small dresser. He was smiling when he turned back to her.“These should do for the night.”

She accepted the folded pile he handed her automatically, and then headed to the promised shower.

Unlike the communal showers, she could still get hot water in his – a fact that she would find rather more annoying if she wasn’t also benefiting from it in that moment.

The clothes he had given her were perfectly acceptable, a simple shirt that hung on her quite loosely and trousers that she had to fold up a little so she wouldn’t step on them. What exactly he wanted with her was becoming less and less clear by the minute.

She stepped back into the room with her arms crossed over her chest.

“Make yourself comfortable,”Kasius said with an almost apologetic wave towards the bed, and then moved past her into the washroom himself.

Sinara stared at the bed for a few more seconds, debating her options. Not that there was a real contest between some cold wall next to dying soldiers and an actual bed with a handsome, if somewhat soft, prince in it. What put her off some was the assuredness he had asked her into his bed with, and the thought of gossip among the battalion.

Sinara sighed, settling into the bed after all. None of it mattered anyways. They’d all be dead on the morrow.

She considered just feigning sleep when he returned but ultimately decided against it, too curious to see just where things would go. That did not stop her from actually drifting off, the bed almost ridiculously soft and smelling lovely. None of that chemical stench that pervaded the barracks.

She jolted up when the bed shifted under his weight, for a moment not remembering where she was.

“Sorry,”Kasius said, voice barely above a whisper.“I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

He lay down next to her, arm just barely brushing hers but otherwise not touching despite what little room they had.“I know it’s cramped but it’s better than the lazaret, at least.”

“It’s fine,”Sinara said, trying and failing to sort through the fact that he had apparently offered her a place to sleep just so she’d have a place to sleep. Just to be kind.

He smiled at her before flicking the lights off.“Goodnight, Sinara.”

“Goodnight, Your Highness.”

“Please, do call me Kasius.”

“Goodnight,”she repeated, hesitating for a split second before adding,“Kasius.”

It didn’t feel strange to say it, oddly enough.

 

She woke up with his arm thrown across her waist, wonderfully well rested, and more than ready to commit a bit of treason to ensure their desertion.

* * *

They hadn’t made it unscathed and they’d had to make do with a ship not exactly meant for the distance they had to travel to return to Hala.

Still, Sinara had not been all too worried until Kasius had developed a fever, the wound his general had dealt infected.

Their course was set so all she could do was try to get some water down his throat and change the wet cloth on his forehead. His eyes didn’t quite focus when he looked at her but he did lean into her touch when she put a hand on his cheek to see if his skin had cooled any.

“You’ll be alright,”she assured him, or maybe herself.

There was a cold, hard knot in her stomach and it wouldn’t go away.

“I think I’m dying,”Kasius said. He said it in the same tone he’d been rambling fevered nonsense all day.

The words still made the weight inside her heavier.

“Nonsense,”she snapped.“You just need some rest.”

She made to get up to get some sleep serum from the medikit the ship was luckily equipped with; Kasius’ fingers closing around her wrist stopped her.

“Don’t leave me. Please, Sinara. Don’t leave.”

His voice almost broke on her name. It was the first time since his fever had made him delirious he showed any sign that he knew who she was.

She could have easily tugged free from his grasp. Instead she kneeled back down next to the cot, stroking his cheek.“I’m not leaving you, Kasius. I need to fetch your medicine but I’ll be right back. Okay?”

“Don’t leave me,”he repeated but he sounded less worried. He let go of her arm, blinking at her until he finally seemed to see her.“Come back, alright?”

She nodded, letting her hand linger on his cheek a moment longer.“I’ll be right back.”

It didn’t take long for the serum to take effect but she remained at his bedside, watching him intently. His chest was rising and falling evenly now. It was nearly mesmerising. It made her realise just how tired she was herself.

She eyed the second cot on the other side of the room but somehow couldn’t bring herself to go over. She wouldn’t be able to tell whether he was still breathing from there. Worse still, he wouldn’t be able to tell where she’d went if he woke up while she slept.

Sinara shook her head, exasperated with herself that she’d somehow managed to start caring about the prince on the far too simple basis of him treating her like a person and not just some soldier.

But there was nothing she could do about that, embarrassing as it was, so she carefully curled up beside him, making sure not to touch his injured side, and rested her head on his chest.

If something were to be wrong, she’d surely wake up. But for now, she let the sound of his heartbeat lull her to sleep.

* * *

Kasius felt horrid about poor Sinara being exiled with him, even though she didn’t seem to mind terribly.

All he had wanted was to offer her a place to sleep for what he had assumed would be the last night of their lives. It had seemed the least he could offer her, as he couldn’t offer her a leader who could win an unwinnable battle, and she had always been amicable when she had acted as his guard.

She was unchanged in her demeanour, and he was selfishly happy about it. Most people who bothered being nice to him did it for want of something. There was nothing but exile for her at his side, yet she had not turned derisive.

“We’ll arrive in a few minutes,”their pilot told them.

Kasius nodded, turning to Sinara.“This will be very tedious, I am afraid.”

She simply shrugged at that.

Their exile was not called such to keep the shame from his family name, and so his father had decided to have him stop for a political visit on his way to the filthy little outpost. He would rather be surrounded by the Terran scum sooner than exchange faux niceties with the Lady Karaba but of course that was not his choice to make.

They sat through a performance of her best fighters as well as a surprisingly delicious dinner before Karaba announced it was time to retire for the night.

“Your soldiers can sleep among mine,”Karaba said, waving a serving boy towards them.“Roan will take you and your woman to your chambers.”

A thrill he’d rather not dwell on ran through his body at her referring to Sinara that way, and he quickly thanked her for hospitality to get his mind off the matter.

When the serving boy left them to make themselves comfortable, it became apparent that Karaba had meant the words exactly the way he thought he’d misunderstood.

“Oh.” He stared at the single bed, then looked to Sinara sheepishly.“I think there may have been a slight misconception here.”

She nodded.“Shall I go to the other soldiers?”

Kasius waved her off.“Nonsense. The bed’s big enough for the both of us. We wouldn’t want to embarrass our host by making a scene of things.”

“Of course,”she said, voice as expressionless as her face, yet he could still swear she was amused.

 

Getting to fall asleep to the sound of her even breathing was worth having to be among such barbarians as Karaba and her ilk.

* * *

Sinara watched as Kasius ranted and raged, pacing up and down in his chambers.

She understood his frustration with the Lighthouse, of course, but it wasn’t as if his complaining would fix the central thermosystem before the needed shipment with spare parts would arrive.

He finally sighed, coming to a stop and facing her.“Can we divert any more energy to our level?”

“Not without damaging the stock,”Sinara said.“Those Terrans are very susceptible to cold.”

“And what of my susceptibility to these wretched conditions?”Kasius asked. He sounded resigned to the situation.

“There’s always body heat,”Sinara suggested before her mind caught up with her mouth.“I could sleep here, if you’d like.”

It had been an offer out of necessity. By the way his cheeks flushed, his mind had taken it in a different direction.

She didn’t say anything more, just looking at him expectantly, head tilted slightly to the side.

“I’d be much obliged,”he said after a few seconds that stretched on far too long.

 

“May I?”he asked when she crawled under the covers with him.

She nodded and he wound his arm around her waist, pulling her close against his chest.

“Oh, that is much better,”Kasius said, a content sigh escaping him, his warm breath tickling the back of her neck.

She shifted a little to make herself more comfortable, placing her hand on his because she did not know where else to put it.“Anything to help.”

She was glad it sounded sufficiently sarcastic. She tried to ignore that he knew her far too well to believe her tone.

She failed to ignore the thought that she wouldn’t mind if they had to wait a while longer for the heating to be fixed, if that meant he’d hold her this way every night.

* * *

Their shipment of supplies arrived, and with it a surprise by the name of Azale.

Judging by Sinara’s excitement at seeing her, there was a little more to it than her being an old army buddy, as she'd introduced her.

Kasius knew he had no right to be jealous but the twisting feeling in his guts was impossible to ignore.

To make matters worse, raiders had damaged the cargo ship and the crew would be forced to stay for repairs.

“Sadly, we do not have enough rooms to accommodate everyone comfortably,”Kasius said, earning himself a bewildered look from Sinara. He instead kept his eyes on Azale.“I hope you don’t mind staying on your ship, lieutenant?”

Sinara answered before Azale could even open her mouth to speak.“Surely we can find a  room for Aza at the very least?”

“The Lady Basha and her entourage will be arriving shortly,”Kasius returned. He usually liked that Sinara didn’t just accept whatever he said. He liked it considerably less when it was counterproductive to keeping her away from that woman who had hugged her in greeting entirely too long for Kasius’ liking.

Sinara scowled.“In that case, Azale can just sleep in my room.”

There was a challenge in her words.

“How lovely.” Kasius smiled at her, that little bit too wide that overshot pleasant and went into a grimace.“It’s very hospitable of you to give up your own chambers to our dear guest.”

She gaped at him, knowing he had purposefully misunderstood but not able to correct him before he was already continuing.

“Willow will collect what you need from your chambers and bring it to mine.”

The server in question hurried to obliged, throwing a worried look in Sinara’s direction.

Kasius turned back to Azale.“You will take your dinner with us, of course?”

She nodded.“Delighted to, Your Highness.”

If his experience with Sinara had taught him well, he could almost certainly say Azale was fighting back laughter. He was too pleased with himself to care.

 

He felt a little less smug and a lot more nervous when the time came to retire to bed.

Since the last time they had slept in the same bed, quite some time had passed. They had slept together often in that time. They had not, however, fallen asleep together even once.

It felt strangely more intimate to simply hold her, playing with her hair absently as she drew patterns across his skin.

He did not fall asleep for a long while, wanting to hold onto every second of this. There was no knowing if Sinara would allow him such tenderness again.

* * *

The night of Azale’s departure, Sinara was in Kasius’ bed again. But this time, she only remained in his arms for a few minutes before sitting up and swinging her legs over the edge of the bed.

Kasius reached out to touch her hip.“What are you doing?”

“Getting dressed so I can leave,”she said, glancing at him over her shoulder, frowning a little.

“You know,”Kasius said, as casually as he could force himself to sound.“You could just stay. If you wanted to.”

“Aza’s not in my room anymore,”she pointed out. She had yet to continue moving.“There’s no reason for me to stay.”

Kasius wetted his lips nervously. He had never dared to broach this subject before.“There’s no reason for you to leave, either.”

She stared at him for so long he almost apologised for the mere suggestion. Then a smile slowly spread across her face.“I guess there isn’t.”

She settled back down, snuggling up against him.

They had the servitors relocate all her things the next day.


End file.
